PHILADELPHIA, PA.- The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, home to America’s artists, celebrates its 200th Anniversary in 2005 with a yearlong series of exhibitions, events, family activities and more. Opening the year of major exhibitions is In Full View: American Painting and Sculpture (1720-2005), through April 10, 2005.

The most extensive exhibition of the Academy’s collection ever presented, In Full View takes the viewer on a journey through the history of American art. Set in new contemporary spaces of the Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building and in the Victorian Gothic architecture of the historic landmark building, In Full View includes painting and sculpture from every era of American art from its birth in the 18th century to today.

The Pennsylvania Academy—established by artist Charles Willson Peale and now opening the new Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building that more than doubles the Academy’s gallery space—is the oldest institution for fine art education and exhibition in the nation. In Full View reveals the Academy’s pivotal role in fine arts exhibition and education. Nearly every major American artist has studied, taught or exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy. With the founding of the Academy at Independence Hall in 1805, fine arts became an integral part of American culture and a defining aspect of the city of Philadelphia.

The ornate historic landmark building, designed by Frank Furness and George Hewitt, reveals a chronological display of American paintings from 1720 to 1945. Included are iconic works such as co-founder Charles Willson Peale’s The Artist in His Museum (1822), Jasper Cropsey’s Mount Washington from Lake Sebago, Maine (1867) and Winslow Homer’s Fox Hunt (1893). Work by many artists who studied or taught at the Academy is represented in the exhibition. Among them are graduate Henry O. Tanner’s Nicodemus (1899), alumna Cecilia Beaux’s New England Woman (1895), instructor Thomas Eakins’ The Cello Player (1896), alumnus Maxfield Parrish’s Princess Parizade Bringing Home the Singing Tree (1906) and graduate William Glackens’ The Soda Fountain (1935).

Several works in the exhibition depict key events in American history, such as David Martin’s famous portrait Benjamin Franklin (1767), Benjamin West’s Penn’s Treaty with the Indians (1771-72), Charles Willson Peale’s George Washington at Princeton (1779), Xanthus Smith’s Final Assault Upon Fort Fisher, North Carolina (1872-73) and Horace Pippin’s John Brown Going to His Hanging (1942).

The Vivian O. and Meyer P. Potamkin Gallery includes 10 masterpieces given to the Academy by the Potamkin family. The collection includes works by Georgia O’Keeffe, Frederick Childe Hassam, Mary Cassatt, Maurice Prendergast and others. Two works from the collection—Marsden Hartley’s Flower Abstraction (1914) and Arthur Dove’s Naples Yellow Morning (1935)—were included in the list “100 Top Treasures” of 2003 selected by Art & Antiques Magazine.

Sculptures as well as post-1945 paintings are arranged in the contemporary spaces of the new Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building—opening to the public on Jan. 11, 2005. Included in the second-floor Tuttleman Sculpture Gallery overlooking the Avenue of the Arts are Isamu Noguchi’s Girl Torso (1958) and David Smith’s V.B. XXII (1963). Works by Nancy Graves and Louise Nevelson also are featured, and Alexander Calder’s mobile Route Barree (1962) hangs above the grand stair leading to the second floor.

Among modern and contemporary paintings are Leon Golub’s Seated Boxer II (1960), Mark Rothko’s Untitled (Maroon Over Red) (1968), Red Grooms’ A Room in Connecticut (1984), Betye Saar’s Blackbird (2002) and Pantocrator (2002) by Vincent Desiderio, Academy faculty member and Alumni Association president.

The Hamilton Building also houses a Sculpture Study Center, the first resource of its kind in Philadelphia. The center includes changing freestanding arrangements of original sculptures from the Academy’s renowned collections, selected by instructors to complement current lessons in sculpture and drawing. Glass-enclosed display cases contain scores of original sculptures previously stored in Academy vaults, and floor-to-ceiling windows provide natural daylight. Comfortable chairs and tables are available for the public to sit and view the sculptures, while Academy students can sketch and discuss masterworks from the sculpture collection.